Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente has charged a new committee composed of faculty from across the university with developing a vision to promote and foster the professional development of faculty in all tracks and at all ranks.
This year the committee will focus on discussing current faculty mentoring programs in the colleges and schools and proposing a set of best practices to guide mentoring. The committee also will recommend related programming that could be offered across campus by the Office of the Provost. Alyssa Hasty, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Melissa Snarr, associate professor of ethics and society, co-chair the committee.
“With the great range of experience on the committee, we look forward to enhancing faculty mentoring and development across the university at all ranks and tracks,” Snarr said. “Our hope is that every faculty member will feel supported throughout their career at Vanderbilt, and we will work to refine and add resources toward that goal.”
The committee had its first meeting in September and will continue to meet throughout the academic year. “In our first meeting, it was clear that every committee member is passionate about improving faculty development at Vanderbilt,” Hasty said. “All of our schools and colleges have some areas of strength. We want to capitalize on those strengths and learn from one another to create an environment that fosters the development of all of our faculty colleagues.”
The committee members are:
- Alyssa Hasty, co-chair, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
- Melissa Snarr, co-chair, associate professor of ethics and society
- Janey Camp, research associate professor of civil and environmental engineering
- William Doyle, associate professor of higher education
- Chalene Helmuth, senior lecturer in Spanish
- Shane Hutson, professor of physics
- Jennifer McGuire, senior lecturer in collaborative piano
- Karla McKanders, clinical professor of law
- Evelyn Patterson, associate professor of sociology
- Mariann Piano, Nancy and Hilliard Travis Chair in Nursing
- William H. Robinson, professor of electrical engineering and computer engineering
- Rangaraj Ramanujam, Richard M. and Betty Ruth Miller Chair in Healthcare Management